NEW DELHI: The applications filed by real estate barons Gopal and Sushil Ansal seeking suspension of their seven-year jail term awarded in the evidence tampering case related to the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy were dismissed by a court on Friday.
The bench said “polluters of the judicial firmament were required to be shown no leniency to maintain the sublimity of the institution, and recourse faith in general public in the administration of justice”.
Additional Sessions Judge Anil Antil said any interference in the course of justice and any obstruction caused in the path of those seeking justice were an affront to the majesty of law and needed to be viewed seriously.
The court also dismissed applications of the Ansals seeking a stay on the fine imposed on them and their release on bail till the disposal of the final outcome of their appeals. The pleas of convicts PP Batra and Anoop Singh and former court staffer Dinesh Chand Sharma seeking suspension of their sentence and fine imposed on them were also dismissed.
“The case at hand is one of the gravest of its kind. The offence appears to be the outcome of a calculated design on the part of the appellants/convicts to interfere with the course of justice,” the order stated.
On November 8, a magistrate court had sentenced the Ansals to seven-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 2.25 crore on them. A fine of Rs 3 lakh was imposed on Batra, Singh and Sharma. The sessions court said that age by itself could not be the sole criteria to grant relief to the convicts, more so when they themselves were involved into the procrastinated trial of the case.
“They (convicts) cannot be permitted to take benefit of their own wrongs. On the other hand, inordinate delay in the trial of the case also does cause acute suffering and anguish to the victims and their rights cannot by any yardstick be subservient to the rights of the accused/convicts,” the court further said.
It was noted that a criminal justice system drives its legitimacy not only from legislation, but more so from the faith that the public at large reposes in it. The nature of the crime was such that it struck at the very edifice of functioning of the court.
“The crime involved in the present case is of a very grave nature. Suspending the sentence at this stage will not only be against the established principles of criminal law, but also shake the confidence of the general public in the judicial system. It is trite to say that if the judiciary as an institution begins to lose the confidence of the public, our cherished value of democracy shall come under serious threat,” the court said.
It added that a finding of guilt had already been given by the trial court, so the presumption of innocence that attaches to the accused during the trial did not apply at the stage of consideration of suspension of sentence.
